The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man.” (Acts 17:24)
Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple.” (1Cor.3:16-17)
When we repent of our sins and accept the free gift of eternal life Jesus Christ of Nazareth bought for us with His blood, He grants us His Holy Spirit to dwell within us and so we become the dwelling place of God. Through this process we are changed into a new being.
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” (2Cor.5:17)
And as we have been made new, we can confidently say: “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” (Phil.4:13)
Our God is holy, therefore as His temples our lives should reflect His holiness. We are to keep our temples pure and conduct ourselves in a way that represents the nature of the God who lives within us. This means looking after our physical bodies as well as our spirits. This is the guidance from the Word about our bodies:
- "Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” (1Cor.6:19-20)
- “What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” (2Cor.6:16)
- “Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” (Gal.5:19-20)
I would like to encourage all of us to reflect on this great honour God has bestowed upon us by making us His dwelling place. Let us make every effort to get to know this God who lives within us by reading His Word, understanding His nature and pursuing a personal relationship with Him.
My Prayer
Father AhaYah, we worship You and praise You. Father, thank you that you choose to make us, bodies of flesh, Your temple. Father, we know that You are a Holy God. Please forgive us when we stumble and dishonour Your temple by following the desires of our flesh and falling back into the ways of our old man. Please teach us and instruct Your ways. Please give us the courage to separate ourselves from the ways of the world to become temples that shine Your Light into the darkness around us. We pray in the name of Holy YahshaYah. Aman.